Ergonomic Mouse alternatives - recommendations?

Quote from mushroomcap : My current chair does not have a headrest or arm rests. I think you might be right about the chair/desk combo. Yes - very short, about only about 5 feet. Maybe what I really should be asking for is chair recommendations!! It's been really hard to find one that fits my smaller size. I'm definitely not sitting the way I do when driving a car or watching tv. At my desk, most of the time it's upright or leaning forward... if my back is in pain sometimes , I'll slouch in the seat with my arms outstretched in front of me, but that's the extent of my reclining.

No armrests? Crazy! Cars also annoy me if there is no middle armrest.

To make a computer chair armrest really work, you likely have to be rather close to the desk or have the keyboard on one of those pull-out desk shelves (or have the keyboard in your lap). So if you're sitting short, and you sit far away from your desk to have to lean forward, I would think that's the main problem. Though, if you're that small, maybe using the armrests on a typical chair would feel weird since your body may not be naturally wide enough and so you'd be chicken-winging your arms.

If you haven't tried typing with the keyboard on your lap, I'm serious about that. It's not like it's even that weird since people do it with laptops all the time.

Also, having your arm/armrest the same height as the mouse can be important. It adds stress if your arm has to angle up to the desk height and then your wrist angle even further higher over the mouse.

Want to maybe be really comfortable? Get a somewhat-reclining or somewhat-angled type chair, with armrests, and add a footstool. Bonus points if it has a headrest. If there's not enough room under the desk to slide the chair under and recline somewhat (don't need much recline), put the stool to the side of the desk and put your feet up and be somewhat sideways to the desk. Put the keyboard on your lap, and be close enough to the desk to use the mouse with your elbow still on the armrest. You're basically in a watching-TV-at-home position. Worth a try. Well, unless your shoulders and arms hurt while watching TV at home, I guess.

I think even a small recline in a chair can be a really big deal. And while some people may say that leads to slouching or use it as an excuse to slouch, there's no reason to slouch since if you lean back into a strong chair you can trust you are fully supported. Also, with a chair with a decent back, you will know to keep your back and shoulders against the back of the chair, and if you aren't, you know you're probably slouching. Stick those shoulders back, soldier! hahaha.

One of those wimpy office chairs with the little one-foot square thing for a back are lousy and imo leads to slouching and/or adds stress to combat slouching. Would anyone drive a car for hours with one of those chairs? Probably not.

Mouse: if you have to swing your hand/arm around and possibly even pick up the mouse sometimes for the mouse cursor because you ran out of room on the desk, if you don't require that much "precision," I'd be looking for a higher-dpi mouse. Or at least right now crank up the mouse cursor acceleration speed in Windows.

Maybe you're already aware of that, but I don't know. A couple of friends use computers hours every day, and they were using some junk, low-dpi mice. It wouldn't surprise me if they were using the kind with a ball in the bottom instead of optical or laser. I talked them into buying an MX518 on a good sale. (I don't necessarily recommend that one over certain other ones, but it's known to be overall good and was a good deal at the time.) The first day: "omg this is way too fast!" The second day: "omg this is great!"

Anyway, for chairs, I'm not talking anything elaborate. But if you have something like this:
http://www.officemax.com/office-f...rod3270154
I think that's not good compared to something like this:
http://www.officemax.com/office-f...rod3770179
Armrests + full back + mild headrest FTW.
Sit even a few degrees reclined back, and imo that can be a big deal. ymmv.
I don't care for cheaper plastic chairs like that one since they are flimsier than metal and can flex, but they're ok, especially for lighter people. And just using it as an example.

Another thing I'd add is if you have to sort of stretch to reach your desk right now, then pull your chair right up to the desk and sit as close as you can. That may be obvious, but then again maybe not.

Have you tried using one of those kid's high chairs from McDonalds? I keed, I keed.

Quote from Deusxmachina : No armrests? Crazy! Cars also annoy me if there is no middle armrest. To make a computer chair armrest really work, you likely have to be rather close to the desk or have the keyboard on one of those pull-out desk shelves (or have the keyboard in your lap). So if you're sitting short, and you sit far away from your desk to have to lean forward, I would think that's the main problem. Though, if you're that small, maybe using the armrests on a typical chair would feel weird since your body may not be naturally wide enough and so you'd be chicken-winging your arms. If you haven't tried typing with the keyboard on your lap, I'm serious about that. It's not like it's even that weird since people do it with laptops all the time. Also, having your arm/armrest the same height as the mouse can be important. It adds stress if your arm has to angle up to the desk height and then your wrist angle even further higher over the mouse. Want to maybe be really comfortable? Get a somewhat-reclining or somewhat-angled type chair, with armrests, and add a footstool. Bonus points if it has a headrest. If there's not enough room under the desk to slide the chair under and recline somewhat (don't need much recline), put the stool to the side of the desk and put your feet up and be somewhat sideways to the desk. Put the keyboard on your lap, and be close enough to the desk to use the mouse with your elbow still on the armrest. You're basically in a watching-TV-at-home position. Worth a try. Well, unless your shoulders and arms hurt while watching TV at home, I guess. I think even a small recline in a chair can be a really big deal. And while some people may say that leads to slouching or use it as an excuse to slouch, there's no reason to slouch since if you lean back into a strong chair you can trust you are fully supported. Also, with a chair with a decent back, you will know to keep your back and shoulders against the back of the chair, and if you aren't, you know you're probably slouching. Stick those shoulders back, soldier! hahaha. One of those wimpy office chairs with the little one-foot square thing for a back are lousy and imo leads to slouching and/or adds stress to combat slouching. Would anyone drive a car for hours with one of those chairs? Probably not. Mouse: if you have to swing your hand/arm around and possibly even pick up the mouse sometimes for the mouse cursor because you ran out of room on the desk, if you don't require that much "precision," I'd be looking for a higher-dpi mouse. Or at least right now crank up the mouse cursor acceleration speed in Windows. Maybe you're already aware of that, but I don't know. A couple of friends use computers hours every day, and they were using some junk, low-dpi mice. It wouldn't surprise me if they were using the kind with a ball in the bottom instead of optical or laser. I talked them into buying an MX518 on a good sale. (I don't necessarily recommend that one over certain other ones, but it's known to be overall good and was a good deal at the time.) The first day: "omg this is way too fast!" The second day: "omg this is great!" Anyway, for chairs, I'm not talking anything elaborate. But if you have something like this: http://www.officemax.com/office-f...rod3270154 I think that's not good compared to something like this: http://www.officemax.com/office-f...rod3770179 Armrests + full back + mild headrest FTW. Sit even a few degrees reclined back, and imo that can be a big deal. ymmv. I don't care for cheaper plastic chairs like that one since they are flimsier than metal and can flex, but they're ok, especially for lighter people. And just using it as an example. Another thing I'd add is if you have to sort of stretch to reach your desk right now, then pull your chair right up to the desk and sit as close as you can. That may be obvious, but then again maybe not. Have you tried using one of those kid's high chairs from McDonalds? I keed, I keed.

Oops, late to replying to this... sorry!

Arm rests - I'd like to have them, but they nearly always interfere with the desk height (I guess because I have to raise the chair as high as possible?). Also, much of the time my setup is monitor, keyboard, wacom tablet, me. Right arm drawing with the tablet, left arm reaching past the tablet to use keyboard keys (that I need for designing). So the usual scenario of the keyboard desk shelf doesn't really work for me.

I'll definitely keep what you said about getting a chair that is somewhat inclined/angled... not sure about the armrests - only if it won't interfere with the desk (i.e. hitting the desk.

Right now I do pull my chair right up to the desk. SO it is literally pressing into my stomach actually!

re: McDonald's - har har.

Thanks for all your thoughts!

With regular keyboards and mice, I have issues with my fingers and my arms with long term usage. To help this, I have been using a Logitech Trackball and a Microsoft Ergo 4000 keyboard for years. In my opinion, the best ergo combination out there.